It has been suggested to carry out chemical reactions under high pressure and temperature conditions by compressing a reactant gas under conditions approaching adiabatic until the desired temperature and pressure is obtained, and then subsequently cooling the reaction products as rapidly and as adiabatically as practical. Indeed, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,551, there is disclosed a reactor having a cylinder equipped with a reciprocating piston for subjecting a gaseous reactant fed to the cylinder to high temperature conditions for a short time.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,732, three types of chemical reactors are disclosed for the non-catalytic cracking of hydrocarbons, such as ethane, propane and the like, and high temperatures and pressures to produce lower molecular weight hydrocarbons. Among the types of reactors presented are positive displacement type machines similar to conventional four-stroke engines, compressor/turbine axial type reactors and energy dissipator axial type reactors.
While the just-mentioned references demonstrate that some success has been met in thermally cracking larger molecules to smaller molecules, there appear to be scant reports dealing with the commercially practical formation of larger molecules, such as olefins, from a smaller molecule, such as methane, by means of rapid adiabatic compression.
In Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSR, 40, pp. 1376-1379 (1961), methane is reported to be converted to acetylene after rapid compression to elevated temperatures and pressures, essentially in a shock tube type reactor.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for converting methane to hydrogen and light gaseous hydrocarbons, such as unsaturated hydrocarbons, including ethylene, acetylene, propylene and the like.